At dawn, the 5th Fleet's warships, including TATSUTA, bombard Ho-tsu,
Ni-chin and Wu-tung cover an amphibious assault landing by more than 2,000
troops of the Yokosuka, Kure and Sasebo Special Naval Landing Forces (SNLF).
At the same time, NE of Xiamen (Amoy), Japanese aircraft from tenders KAMOI
and KAMIKAWA MARU bomb bridges, roads, ferries and ships. The poorly equipped
Nationalist Chinese 75th Division defenders suffer heavy casualties and are
overrun by the SNLFs and withdraw.

2 December 1941: Operation "Z": The coded signal "Niitakayama nobore
(Climb Mt. Niitaka) 1208" is received from the Combined Fleet. It signifies that
hostilities will commence on 8 December (Japan time).[1]

11 December 1941:DesRon 6's YUBARI and three destroyers close to
within 4,500 yards of Wake Island to bombard American positions. At 0615, Marine
1st Lt Clarence A. Barninger's Battery "A" 5-inch guns open fire. YUBARI is
straddled but not hit. She opens the range to 5,700 yards, and is straddled
twice more, but not hit.

Two miles SW of Wake Island. HAYATE, OITE and ASANAGI close to bombard
Wilkes Island, but HAYATE takes three direct hits from salvos of Marine 2nd Lt
John A. McAlister's Battery "L" 5-inch guns. At 0652, HAYATE blows up and sinks
with her entire crew of 168 at 19-16 N, 166-37 E. Battery "L" also scores a
near-miss that damages OITE.

DesDiv 30's YAYOI, MUTSUKI and KISARAGI close to bombard both Wilkes and
Peale Islands. 1st Lt Woodrow W. Kessler's Battery "B" 5-inch guns on Peale open
fire and score a hit on YAYOI.

9,000 yds SW of Kuku Point, Wake. At 0724, USMC Grumman F4F-3 "Wildcats"
strafe TENRYU and damage three torpedoes in her deck mount. A "Wildcat" strafes
TATSUTA, raking her radio shack with machine-gun fire. Both fighters are
damaged by AA fire.[2]

Captain Henry T. Elrod, USMC, hits KISARAGI with a 100-lb. bomb that
probably detonates her depth charges. At 0731, the destroyer blows up and sinks
with her entire crew of 150 at 18-55 N, 166-17 E.

That morning, a dejected Rear Admiral Kajioka orders his Attack Force to
return to Kwajalein.

29 April 1942: Rear Admiral Kajioka's Force departs Rabaul and stops
briefly at Shortland Islands, Bougainville to setup a seaplane base. Oiler IRO
remains at Shortlands as a station tanker with KEIJO MARU and elements of the
84th Guard Unit.

3 May 1942:CruDiv 18 covers the invasion landings on Santa Isabel
Island. KAMIKAWA and KIYOKAWA MARUs with the No. 5 Gunboat Group's SEIKAI MARU
and NIKKAI MARU establish a seaplane base at Rekata Bay. KIYOKAWA MARU remains
at Rekata, but CruDiv 18 and KAMIKAWA MARU depart for Deboyne Island in the
Louisiade Archipelago in the Louisades.

14 July 1942:The IJN undergoes a major reorganization. The Eighth
Fleet is created under Vice Admiral Mikawa Gunichi (former CO of KIRISHIMA) and
based at Rabaul. Rear Admiral Matsuyama Mitsuharu (former CO of KITAKAMI)
assumes command of CruDiv 18. Admiral Marumo is reassigned to the Maizuru Naval
District.

12 August 1942:Departs Rabaul for Basabua, New Guinea with destroyers
YUZUKI and UZUKI and subchasers CH-23 and CH-30, escorting transports KINAI and
NANKAI MARUs, carrying elements of the 14th and 15th Base Forces and 70 tons of
supplies.

25 August 1942: Operation "RE" - Capture of the Allied Airfield at Milne
Bay, New Guinea:After midnight, the transports land 1,200 troops of the 5th
Kure SNLF at Milne Bay. In the morning the invasion force is bombed by Boeing
B-17s and NANKAI MARU and URAKAZE are damaged.

28 August 1942:Arrives at Rabaul. Departs the same day with
destroyers ARASHI, MURAKUMO and YAYOI.

29 August 1942: The destroyers land 775 troops of the 3rd Kure
Special Naval Landing Force at Milne Bay.

30 August 1942:Arrives at Rabaul.

4 September 1942:Operation "RE" is canceled after the defeat of the
landing forces. CruDiv 18 departs Rabaul to evacuate troops.

5 September 1942:Evacuates troops from Milne Bay.

6 September 1942:Milne Bay. Evacuates troops. In all, CruDiv 18
evacates 1318 men on 5-6 September. That night, TATSUTA, assisted by destroyer
ARASHI, bombards the Gili Gili wharves and shells the 3,188-ton British armed
motor vessel ANSHUN. ANSHUN receives at least ten hits and capsizes. Two of her
gunners are killed, two wounded.

6 October 1942: TATSUTA departs Rabaul with five destroyers carrying
LtGen Hyakutake Harukichi, Commander, 17th Army and troops to Guadalcanal.

8/9 October 1942: Lands LtGen Hyakutake and his troops at
Tassafaronga, Guadalcanal.

1 November 1942:Rear Admiral Matsuyama, ComCruDiv 18, tranfers his
flag from the damaged TENRYU to TATSUTA.

2 November 1942:Departs Rabaul.

5 November 1942:Arrives at Truk. Begins repairs to her rudder.

10 December 1942:CruDiv 18 is deactivated. Rear Admiral Matsuyama is
reassigned to head the Tateyama Naval Gunnery School. TATSUTA and TENRYU are
reassigned to Vice Admiral Mikawa Gunichi's (former CO of KONGO) Eighth
Fleet/Southeast Fleet based at Rabaul.

7 January 1943:Truk. Captain Funaki Morie (48)(former XO of TAKAO)
is appointed the CO. Captain Yoshimura is reassigned as ComDesDiv 10. Later,
he commands the new YAHAGI and thereafter HARUNA.

12 January 1943:Rudder repairs are completed. Departs Truk.

19 January 1943:Arrives at Maizuru. Begins refit and repairs.

6 February 1943: Drydocked.

18 February 1943: Undocked.

28 March 1943: Repairs and refit are completed. Departs Maizuru.

1 April 1943:Arrives at Kure. TATSUTA is assigned as flagship of new
DesRon 11 in Vice Admiral Shimizu Mitsumi's (former CO of ISE) First Fleet.

8 June 1943:S of Hashirajima. TATSUTA is moored near several of DesRon
11's newly commissioned destroyers. Battleship MUTSU is moored at the flagship
buoy about two miles SW of Hashirajima. There is heavy fog and visibility is
down to 500 yards.

20 October 1943: The task group arrives at Truk. The anchorage is largely
empty, Admiral Koga having sortied with the fleet to Brown Atoll, Eniwetok three
days earlier to intercept an enemy task force thought to be closing on Wake
Island. YAMASHIRO, ISE and TATSUTA debark troops and remain at Truk as
guardships during the fleet's absence.

4 November 1943:Escort carrier UNYO and DesDiv 7's AKEBONO are
detached for Yokosuka.

5 November 1943: At 0505, near the Bungo Suido, Japan, LtCdr (later
Admiral) I. J. "Pete" Galantin's USS HALIBUT (SS-232), alerted by Ultra, picks
up the zigzagging task group on radar. At 0539, Galantin fires six bow torpedoes
at JUNYO. At 0540, a torpedo hits JUNYO in the stern, but the other five miss
astern.

HALIBUT circles hard to port. At 0543, Galantin fires two stern
torpedoes at the carrier. During the action, a dud torpedo hits YAMASHIRO. At
0558, Galantin tries to fire another torpedo at JUNYO but it malfunctions and
"runs hot" in the tube. JUNYO, rudder disabled, is towed safely through the
Bungo Suido. TATSUTA and the other ships in the task group are undamaged.

11 March 1944:TATSUTA is assigned to the Grand Escort Force. That
same day, LtCdr Malcom E. Garrison's new USS SAND LANCE (SS-381) on her first
war patrol, receives an "Ultra" message from ComSubPac about the outbound
convoy.

13 March 1944:40 miles S of Hachijo Jima. LtCdr Garrison has six
torpedoes left. At 0310, he sets up and fires his four stern torpedoes at the
light cruiser. At 0314 TATSUTA's lookouts report an incoming torpedo wake
bearing 120 degrees to starboard, distance 150 meters, but it is too late to
take evasive action. The torpedo hits starboard side at the forward bulkhead
of the aft engine room, approximately 3 meters below the waterline. The aft
engines are smashed, several sections of the hull develop cracks, the bulkhead
between the engine rooms is breached and water also enters the forward engine
room. The aft torpedo mont is blown overboard and the No. 3 gun mount collapses.
By 0712 both engine rooms are flooded. The rudder becomes disabled and power
is lost, plunging the ship into darkness.

TATSUTA's crew fights the flooding for seven hours. By 1025 the
cruiser takes on a 5-degree list to port. By 1040, the rear section of the
upper deck is awash. The flooding is temporarily halted, but begins again. At
1415, TATSUTA takes on a starboard list, so her crew is ordered to transfer
all weight to port. By 1510, her stern is settling faster and the starboard list
is increasing slowly. At 1536, the list is 60 degrees starboard and the order
is given to abandon ship. Seconds later, TATSUTA goes down by the stern at
32-52N, 139-12E. Twenty-six men are KIA, 10 wounded. Destroyers NOWAKI and UZUKI
rescue the survivors including Captain Shimazui (forcibly removed from the ship
by his subordinates) and ComDesRon 11, Rear Admiral Takama.

SAND LANCE's other two torpedoes hit and sink transport KOKUYO MARU
carrying 1,029 troops. SAND LANCE, a thick-skinned BALAO-class, dives to 550
ft and escapes 105 depth-charges dropped by the escorts during an 18-hour
attack. Garrison claims he also lightly damaged freighter TAMAHOKO MARU
with his last two bow torpedoes.

10 May 1944:Removed from the Navy List.

Authors' Notes: [1] Mt. Niitaka, located in Formosa (now Taiwan), is then
the highest point in the Japanese Empire.

[2] The attackers were in all likelihood Captain Henry T. Elrod and
Captain Frank C. Tharin, USMC. Captain Elrod was killed during the fighting
on 23 December 1941 in the final assault on Wake. He was awarded the Medal of
Honor, posthumously. He is the first Marine to receive the medal in WW 2.

Thanks for assistance in researching the IJN officers mentioned in this
TROM go to Jean-François Masson of Canada. Thanks also go to "Adm. Gurita" of
the Netherlands.

Thanks go to Anthony P. Tully of Texas for additional details about how
TATSUTA was sunk by a single torpedo. Thanks also go to the late John Whitman
for info on convoy "Tei No. 3".